Report cites misconduct by New York wildlife pathologist

View full sizeSuzanne Dunn / The Post-Standard, 2000Ward Stone, wildlife pathologist for the State Department of Environmental Conservation, holds up a Great blue heron sent from Cayuga County to be examined for the West Nile Virus, at the State Wildlife Pathology Laboratory in Delmar, in this photo from Aug. 23, 2000.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Top New York environmental officials damaged staff morale by ignoring misconduct and insubordination by a prominent wildlife pathologist who used government equipment for personal benefit, the state inspector general said Monday.

According to investigators, Ward Stone also improperly lived in his suburban Albany office at least half-time for a decade. Stone agreed in a settlement to retire in 2010 and pay $1,500 for personal use of state vehicles.

The report by Inspector General Ellen Biben said Stone also bullied and threatened subordinates, but because of support by media and environmental groups he was not disciplined.

“Regardless of their accomplishments or stature, no state employee is above the law,” Biben said. “The integrity of state agencies and their disciplinary processes requires that all employees be held equally accountable to abide by the law and agency policies.”

The 73-year-old Stone said Monday that his environmental work identifying hazards like industrial PCBs flowing into the St. Lawrence River and the Mohawks’ Akwesasne Reservation speaks for itself over his 40-year career. He said subordinates bullied him with the support of certain higher-ups. He hadn’t seen the report yet, he said.

“I discovered a lot of things that needed to get done that the DEC was not doing, Akwesasne being one of them,” Stone said. Sometimes he slept in his office after returning late from trips so he could resume work early the next day, he said.

DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis declined to comment on the report’s specifics but said the agency “has taken steps to ensure allegations of employee misconduct are fully investigated and appropriate action is taken so the mistakes of the past are not repeated in the future. This type of behavior will not be tolerated at DEC.”

According to the inspector general’s report, Stone improperly used the DEC Wildlife Resource Center, located near the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center in Delmar, as his frequent residence, a benefit worth at least $29,000. Also, he seldom filled out time records, stored personal firearms at the center despite a policy against it, used agency staff for chauffeuring and help with his college teaching and radio show. He also had staff care for his chickens and other domesticated animals and failed to properly instruct employees in proper handling two that contracted West Nile virus.

“He was repeatedly insubordinate, but largely without consequence. While Stone’s direct supervisors and other managers made serious efforts to address his conduct, they were not supported by the agency’s executive management at the time,” the report said. “One frustrated manager no doubt expressed the view of many when he stated, ‘Stone is getting yet another pass on misconduct that any other employee would surely be disciplined or otherwise held accountable for.’”

Attorney Lewis Oliver, speaking for Stone, said the report seems to focus on the frustration of his immediate supervisors, mostly midlevel bureaucrats, while commissioners and other high-level executives understood the value of his work in responding directly to citizen groups that had problems with contaminants and toxics in the environment. “If he had followed all the directions of these petty bureaucrats many of the issues that he brought to the public’s attention would have gone unaddressed.”

“The pathology unit did autopsies on thousands of animals,” Oliver said. “When you do an autopsy you have to presume the animal died from something bad. The staff was trained generally to avoid infection during the autopsies. What lapses they had were probably their own fault.”